On THAT aqueduct !

Elaine here ...

This mornin' we set off bright and early (not!) for our journey from Chirk to Llangollen. 

Bombo supervising Paul's driving skills ...


On the way to the Pontcysyllte aqueduct (PA), some canoeists started following us - said they wanted to follow us across it to ensure their safety!  Shame we had to stop for water just after they started following us though !

As we approached the PA, there was a boat already on it, so we pulled over and waited ...

Then it was our turn - WOW !  We were on a canal in the sky ...

Paul had me get off and take some pics from the footpath.  I must admit I felt decidedly dodgy up there and held onto the railings on the footpath side quite a lot !
It was my turn for the near trouser accident! 

Did I mention 'wow'?!

Anyway, these pics tell their own story ...

Keep your eyes on the road, Paul !

 

 

 

 

View from the PA down to a bridge ...

Looking how far we have come !

... and we made it across !  Does Paul look relieved?!!

The canoeists waiting for their return trip !  It must be a buzz in a canoe !

After the PA, you make a sharp left turn at Trevor!  (I did text my brother, Trevor, to tell him we were in Trevor - said he thought he just had a dodgy tummy - ha ha !)
 

Obligatory pic of a moo cow along the way ...

We hadn't seen hardly any boats going the other way so far on our trip - and then we found the reason why!  As we got closer to Llangollen a procession of boats were coming the other way - they told us there had been a tree down for ages and it had caused big hold ups ! They asked us how long we had been waiting - well, we hadn't as we had just arrived - but the other boats in the queue in front of us had !  Apparently there were about 20 boats in front of us waiting to go ahead !

There are a few bits on the Llangollen that are only wide enough for one boat - so you have to walk ahead and check out the situation - anyway, we had a cruisy time really as everyone was held up with the tree !

By the way, thanks to NB Beefur for your emails re the tree !

As we got closer, we saw the offending tree - still being chopped up and carted off!

You can see the boats queuing ahead ...

 

BW man chopping up the last bit ...

Just past here we started to see some moorings - but it was a chaotic scene as we approached !  We were second to last in our procession of boats going into Llangollen - and it was getting a bit tight for some of the boats - there were a couple of tour boats trying to get past in the other direction too !  I can't talk 'cos I only drive the boat on straightish bits, but it was a sight to behold with all the hire boats trying to squeeze through the gap !  We were going to keep going into the basin but we decided to moor up where we saw a good spot ( it is like paradise here - we are hooked up to electricity and water and we are pretty near the Elsan disposal too - luxury !! It just costs 6 pounds per night!).

Once we had moored up, we sat and watched the next wave of chaos happening - then things quietened down, people found their spots for the night and there was serenity once again !  We had a walk up to the basin to have a look - there were still a couple of moorings up there - it was a nice, open space but we decided to stay put !
Then we took a walk down into Llangollen - what a pretty spot !  The River Dee was in full force and Paul saw the steam train arrive in the station, so he was happy !

We are going to see if we can go on this tomorrow ...

River Dee and the train station

Llangollen has just hosted an International Eisteddfod event, which ended yesterday - hence all the flags ...

Looking into Llangollen

 

The river is busy !

Steam train in the station ...

Don't see many of these around, do you?!

 'Til tomorrow ... :)